MAD law

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Basic data
Title: Military Counterintelligence Act
Short title: MAD law
Abbreviation: MADG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Constitutional law , state security , intelligence law
References : 12-5
Issued on: December 20, 1990
( BGBl. 1990 I pp. 2954, 2977 )
Entry into force on: December 30, 1990
Last change by: Art. 18 VO of June 19, 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1328, 1330 )
Effective date of the
last change: 		June 27, 2020
(Art. 361 of June 19, 2020)
Weblink: Text of the MAD law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The MAD Act ( MADG ) regulates the tasks and legal status of the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) as well as the cooperation of the MAD with the civil protection authorities in Germany.

content

The task of the MAD is Section 1 (1) MADG collects and evaluates information about efforts that are directed against the free democratic basic order , the existence or security of the federal government or a state, as well as about security-endangering or secret service activities within the scope of this law for a foreign power if these efforts or activities against persons, departments or agencies in the division of the Ministry of defense set up and will go out or come from persons belonging to this business or are active in it. The reference to the Bundeswehr must therefore be given both on the perpetrator side and on the protected property side. The MAD is not restricted to activities within the Bundeswehr properties (so-called "barracks theory").

The MAD Act often refers to the regulations of the Federal Constitutional Protection Act , whose regulations are to be applied accordingly.

history

When the MAD Act came into force, the MAD had already existed for 34 years. Until then, its tasks and powers had been derived directly from the Basic Law, according to which the federal government sets up armed forces for defense ( Article 87a, Paragraph 1, Sentence 1 of the Basic Law ). The Federal Constitutional Court has given constitutional status to ensuring the operational readiness of the armed forces . As a contribution to this, the Federal Minister of Defense established the MAD in 1956 on the basis of the organizational power to which he is entitled under Article 65a of the Basic Law . In addition, the so-called “bouquet theory” was applied, according to which, through various expressions of will by the legislature, authorizations to intervene were derived. The Office for Security of the Bundeswehr, which was the headquarters of the MAD, was authorized in the Article 10 Act of 1968 to intervene in the secrecy of letters, mail and telecommunications. The tasks and powers were also regulated in a “central directive”. As early as 1978, Joachim Hiehle , State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg), commissioned the drafting of an MAD bill. Another initiative took place in 1982 when the BMVg tried to add a legal basis for the MAD to the amendment to the Federal Constitutional Protection Act. The census ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court ultimately set the legislative process in motion, even if years were to pass. The later MAD President Rudolf von Hoegen judged in retrospect: “The splendor of the Central Directive as a legal surrogate has faded and the bouquet of flowers as a legal basis has faded.” Klaus Dau , at that time Ministerialrat and Head of Department in the BMVg, submitted a draft law of two brief ones on April 17, 1984 Pages and six paragraphs. The draft should become the basis for later drafts. On January 29, 1986, a draft law was passed by the Federal Cabinet , but could not be passed in the 10th legislative period of the German Bundestag , which ended on February 18 of the following year. A new draft law was introduced to parliament in April 1989. The recommendation for a resolution and report by the lead Interior Committee followed on May 29, 1990.

The MAD Act was passed as Art. 3 of the Article Act “Act on the Further Development of Data Processing and Data Protection” of December 20, 1990 alongside an amendment to the Federal Data Protection Act and the Federal Constitutional Protection Act as well as the newly created BND Act . This was the first time that the MAD's tasks and powers were standardized. In addition to the need for data protection law as a result of the census judgment, the MAD Act was also a response to numerous wiretapping scandals. The first draft submitted to the Bundestag was on April 17, 1986.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ “Always on the enemy!” - The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) 1956–1990 . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-36392-8 , pp. 188 f .
  2. ↑ Printed matter 11/4306. (PDF) German Bundestag, April 6, 1989, accessed on March 26, 2020 (p. 65).
  3. ↑ “Always on the enemy!” - The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) 1956–1990 . 1st edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2019, ISBN 978-3-525-36392-8 , pp. 182-189; Quote p. 186 .
  4. ↑ Printed matter 11/7235. (PDF) German Bundestag, 11th electoral term, May 29, 1990, accessed on March 26, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Wolf-Rüdiger Schenke , Kurt Graulich , Josef Ruthig : Federal Security Law - BPolG, BKAG, ATDG, BVerfSchG, BNDG, VereinsG . 2nd Edition. CH Beck, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-406-71602-7 , pp. 1513–1566 , § 1 MADG, Rn. 1 .
  6. ^ Draft of a law on military counterintelligence (MAD law - MADG). (PDF) German Bundestag, April 17, 1986, accessed on March 26, 2020 .